EUGENE, Ore. -- Ben Howland bragged about many of his peers while making the point this week that the Pac-12 is an improved conference.

UCLA's head coach noted the talent of Arizona and Oregon, how experienced and capable Washington's star players are, credited Herb Sendek for a job well done at Arizona State, and described Cal and Stanford as "formidable."

And the Buffs?

"Colorado is going to be hard to beat in Colorado," Howland said during Tuesday's coaches teleconference with the media.

Colorado is 9-1 at home this season (the Bruins provided the only blemish) and 41-5 (.891) at the Coors Events Center under Tad Boyle.

The Buffs -- who are 2-6 in true road games this season, including last Saturday's 58-55 loss at Utah -- could use a win here Thursdayagainst No. 19 Oregon at Matthew Knight Area (8 p.m., ESPNU).

The Ducks (18-4, 7-2) are the only team in the conference with a perfect home record (14-0). Interestingly, in conference games this season, Pac-12 teams have only won 57 percent of the time at home.

"I would say this year that home-court advantage doesn't hold as much water as it has in years past," Boyle said. "What that means is, when you go on the road, you have a chance."

Oregon coach Dana Altman said when the Buffs are balanced they're a tough team to deal with.

"They can score. They score baskets in a lot of different ways," Altman said. "They've got a number of weapons, so defensively you have to guard all their guys because they can all score."

Oregon point guard Dominic Artis is "day to day" with a foot injury. The Ducks were averaging 14.7 assists and 15.3 turnovers per game with the 10.0 assists and 21.7 turnovers over the last three games without him.

Artis (10.2 ppg) is one of five Oregon players averaging between 10.0 and 11.4 points this season. Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi (8.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) leads the team in rebounding.

The Ducks were 7-0 and ranked No. 10 before getting swept at Stanford and Cal last week.

"I think we've got good guys on the team. I think we'll bounce back," Altman said. "We played hard against Cal, we just didn't get it done."

The Buffs (14-6, 4-5) nearly overcame a 22-point deficit in the second half in Salt Lake City before missing some key free throws and turning the ball over with a chance to complete the comeback.

"We have the utmost confidence in our group," Dinwiddie said. "We just needed to get stops (at Utah), which is something we didn't do at the beginning of the game. That's why we lost."

Boyle knows his team, which played about 30 minutes of bad basketball at Utah, will have to bring it for 40 minutes to become the first team this season to walk out of Matthew Knight Arena victorious.

"I like the way our team practices. The problem that we're having right now is we don't play with a sense of urgency at all times," Boyle said. "We have some guys who think they can turn it on and turn it off. The reality is we're not talented enough to do that. ...

"We can play with any team in this league, and any team in this league can beat us on a given night."

BROADCAST: Television on the ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Miles Simon (analyst). Radio on KOA (AM 850) with Mark Johnson (play-by-play) and Chad Brown (analyst). Follow on Twitter: @RyanThorburn.

CU STORY LINES: The Buffs are coming off their worst loss of the season Saturday at Utah. ...CU is looking for its second Pac-12 road win and its third road win overall. With a victory, CU would match its record (15-7) at the same point last season. ...This is the fourth ranked opponent the Buffs have faced this season. They are 1-2 against ranked teams. ...Andre Roberson is tied for the national lead in rebounding, averaging 11.6 rebounds per game.

OREGON STORY LINES: The Ducks are tied with Arizona for first-place in the Pac-12, but they bring their first losing streak since the 2010-11 season into tonight's game, having lost at Stanford and Cal last week. ...The Ducks have won 20 consecutive home games. ...Oregon senior E.J. Singler is three wins away from becoming the winningest player in Oregon history. He has won 79 games in his career. The record is 81. ...Oregon is the best rebounding team in the conference outrebounding opponents by eight per game. ...Point guard Dominic Artis has missed the past three games but could return tonight.

KEY STAT: CU leads the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot .405. The Buffs are third in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense at .315.

COACHES: Boyle is 62-33 in his third season at CU. Dana Altman is 63-32 in his third season at Oregon.

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